Can-washing machine



April 10, 1928.

l. H. KENDALL CAN WASHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 29. 1923 ATTORNEY- April 10, 1928.

1,665,92 I. H. KENDALL CAN WASHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 29, 1923 2 Sheets-5heet 2 lNVE/VTOR ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA H. KENDALL, OF POTSDAM, NERV YORK, ASSIG-NOR TO THE KENDALL PATENTS,

INC, 015 POTSDAM, NEVI YORK,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CAN-WASHING MACHINE.

Application filed December 29, 1923. Serial No. 683,309.

My invention relates to a new and improved control for can washing machines. One of the objects of my invention is to provide new and useful improvements in controlling such machines which shall be adapted for use in connect-ion with the ma chine of the type shown in my application Serial No. 551,570, filed April 11th, 1922.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved control device for can washing machines of the type in which the can is lowered into a tank provided with washing devices, and is then raised out of said tank after the washing operation or operations performed in said tank have been completed.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a control device for washing machines of the type in which a cleansing liquid is forced into the interior of a can while there is a relative vertical movement between the said can and the body of cleansing liquid.

Another object of my invention is to provide a control device whereby a can in the inverted position is moved up and down with respect to an upwardly directed moving body of cleansing liquid such as water or the like, and the movement of the can is regulated so that the washing action will be exerted for a greater length of time upon those portions of the can which ordinarily have the greatest amount of impurities.

Another object of my invention is to provide a. control device adapted to be used in combination with the mechanism set forth in my former application Serial No. 551,570, whereby the said mechanism is particularly adapted for the cleansing of shipping cans, that is, cans which are used for shipping milk for relatively long distances in contradistinction to the cans which are used by farmers for carrying their milk to dairies or creameries.

Other objects ofmy invention will be set forth in the following description and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, it being understood that the illustration is largely diagrammatic and that only the essential parts of my control device are shown and that any skilled person could embody this controlling device in various types of can washing machines and particularly in the can washing machine illustrated in my application Serial No. 551.570.

Fig. 1 is an elevation partially in section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the tanks in which the can is acted upon.

Fig. 3 illustrates a detail of the control device.

Fig. 4 is a. sectional view showing suflicient of the parts of acomplete can washing machine to enable my invention to be clearly understood. a

The can C may be supported in an inverted position upon a can support C carried by a turntable T which may be mounted on shaft 2. The shaft 2 is vertically movable Within cylinder. 1, so that the can is successively treated in a series of tanks by being moved vertically over washing, rinsing, steaming and drying heads located in said tanks. These tanks are arranged around a central column 5. lashing machines having a series of tanks provided with washing heads and having a turntable mounted on a vertically movable shaft are now well known and require no further illustration. The turntables of such machines have holders for the cans to be washed so that when the turntable is raised and lowered, the cans are lowered into and raised out of, the respective tanks above which said cans are then located. A washing head W is conventionally illustrated in Fig. 4.

The shaft 2 carrying this turntable is provided with a piston 3 located within a hydraulic cylinder 1. The cylinder 1 is provided with external valve means whereby the piston may be moved upwardly and downwardly. Hence, when the piston 3 is moved up and down, the shaft 2 and its turntable are moved up and down.

Water under pressure is normally admitted through the pipe 27 from any suitable source and the exhaust or drain water can normally pass out of the cylinder through the exhaust or drain pipe 33. The pipes 27 and 33 are connected with the casing C of a piston rod 31 having a rod 31. This casing C is connected in any suitable manner in front of cylinder 1. As clearly seen in Fig. 1, the piston valve 31 consists of three piston-like portions which have a liquid-tight fit within the casing C and these three piston portions are separated by intermediate portions of smaller diameter.

The upper part of the cylinder 1 has a pipe 36 and this communicates with the pipes 37 and 38 which are connected to lower and upper ports of the casing C. The bottom of the cylinder 1 has a pipe 29 and this communicates with parallel pipes 34 and 39 which have upper and lower ports in the casing C.

The valve 31 has three Working positions. The position shown in Fig. 1 is its neutral position. It is moved into this position by the device shown in Fig. 3, which places this valve in the neutral position at the end of its upward stroke as will be more fully explained, and at the end of its downward stroke. In this position the valve 31 shuts off the intake and exhaust ports from the pipes 29 and 36 so that the piston 3 is held in the position it occupies when valve 31 is brought to its neutral position.

The upward and downward movement of shaft 2 and consequently of the attached turntable carrying the milk can to be treated, is produced by upwardly moving valve 31 for lowering shaft 2, and downwardly moving said valve for raising shaft 2, it being evident that the device shown in Fig.

I 3 will move valve 31 into its neutral position at the extreme end of its upward and lower movement.

In order to ralse the piston of the shaft 2 to its uppermost position, the lever 30 is operated to depress the valve 31. The lever 30 is connected to valve 31 by yoke 32. When the valve 31 is depressed the top part thereof closes the port of the pipe 38; the intermediate piston clears or opens the port of pipe 34 and closes the port of pipe 39. The bottom piston opens the port of pipe 37. Hence water under pressure can enter through the pipe 27 into the valve casing C, pass out through the pipe 34 into the pipe 29 and force the piston of the shaft 2 upwardly while any water which may be in the cylinder 1 above the said piston can pass out through the pipe 36 and the pipe 37, into the casing C and out through the pipe 33. When shaft 2 reaches the end of its upward stroke, the device shown in Fig. 3 brings valve 31 to its neutral position.

To force the shaft 2 to'its lowermost position the hand lever 30 may be manipulated so as to raise the piston valve 31. In this position the top portion of the valve 31 clears the port of the pipe 38; the intermediate portion of the valve closes the port of pipe 34 and clears the port of pipe 39 and the bottom of the piston valve closes the port of pipe 37.

Hence the water under pressure entering through pipe 27 into the casing C passes out through the pipe 38 into the pipe 36 and above the piston so as to force it downwardly while any water which may be below the piston in the cylinder 1 is forced out through pipe 29 into pipe 39 and lnto the valve casing C to pass out through pipe 33. The valve 31 is again brought to its neutral position by the device shown in Fi 3.

is shown in Fig. 3 the rod 31 of the valve 31 may be provided with projections 40 and 41 so that when the shaft 2 has reached the upper limit of its movement, the disc 4 will strike the projection 40 and upwardly actuate the rod 31 which may slide in a suitable guide 42. This upward movement of the valve rod 31 actuates the valve 31 so as to cause the valve to reach its neutral position. WVhen the shaft 2 has reached the limit of its lower movement, it strikes against the lower projection 41 so as to depress the valve rod31 and again valve 31 is in its neutral position.

Hence any can which is supported by the shaft 2 is reciprocated within one of the tanks 43 and ordinarily each can only has a single up and down movement with respect to each of the tanks 43, being moved wardly or downwardly so as to be subjected to a washing action, and then being moved upwardly or outwardly to be transported by the revolution of the turntable above another tank or to have some other operation performed thereon. As the shaft is raised and lowered the cans held on the turntable connected to said shaft are raised and lowered with respect to the tanks and the wash ing devices therein.

In order that:the movement of the shaft 2 and hence the movement of the can should be very slow at a specified portion of the movement thereof and particularly when the neck and adjacent concave top portion of the body of the can are passing the Washing means special regulating means'are provided.

As clearly shown in Fig. 1, the pipe 22 which is directly connected to the source of water under pressure is connected to the pipe 27 by means of the pipe 28 and also by means of by-pass pipes 25 and 26. The pipe 25 has a valve casing 23 of any suitable type and this has an ordinary hand. valve oper ated by means of wheel 24. The pipe 28 has a valve casing 20 which is connected to the column 5 by means of a bracket 19, and a piston valve 21 controls the flow of-the water through the casing 20. The piston valve 21 which may be called the regulating piston valve, is pivotally connected to the rod 17 by the pin 18. The rod 17 ispivotally connected at the upper end thereof to the lever 14 by means of the pin 12. The bellcrank lever 14 is pivotally mounted to the bracket 16 of the central column 5 by means of the pin 15 and the arm 11 of the said lever 14 is pivotally connected to the rod 9 by the pin 10. The rod 9 fits loosely within an opening in the tank 5 and passes through a suitable collar and carries the cam member 6 at the inner end thereof. A compression spring 8 is mounted upon the inner shank 7 of the rod 9 so that the said compression spring normally maintains the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1. However, when the shaft- 2 has descended to a predetermined position, the control disc 4 forces the cam member 6 towards the wall of the tank so that the lever 1 1 is revolved clockwise and the valve 21 is depressed to stop the flow of water through the casing 20. The water then is compelled to flow through the pipe 25 and since the valve in the said pipe 25 can be opened to a very slight and predetermined amount the flow of water through the by-pass is much slower than through the pipe 28 so that the downward movement and the upward movement of the shaft 2 are re tarded at predetermined points thereof and for a predetermined portion of the movement of the shaft 2. By suitably adjusting the wheel 24, the speed of movement of the shaft 2 and hence of the can to be washed can be suitably controlled for that portion of the movement of the shaft 2 which is represented by the height of the cam member 6 Hence, by causing this retarded movement to occur during the period in which the dirtiest portion of the can, such as the neck and concave top portion of its body are being operated upon by the washing means, a very thorough and concentrated cleansing is accomplished at the points where this is most necessary, while the remainder of the can is washed much more rapidly so that the machine has high capacity even for shipping cans.

- I believe that I am the first to devise a washing machine in which the speed of the washing operation is caused to vary upon different portions of the can and that my invention is absolutely new and pioneer in this respect. Hence, while I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that numerous changes and omissions could be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim 1. A washing machine comprising washing means, a movable supporting member adapted to support the article to be washed, power operated mechanism adapted to cause a relative movement between the said article and the said washing means along a definite path, and control means automatically oper ated by said operated mechanism adapted to cause the velocity of the said relative movement to vary along the said path.

2. A washing machine comprising washing means, a movable supporting member adapted to support an article to be washed,

hydraulic mechanism adapted to cause a relative movement between the support and the said washing means, a valve adapted to control the supply of liquid under pressure to the hydraulic mechanism, and automatic mechanism actuated by the movement of said hydraulic mechanism to actuate said valve during the relative movement between the said supporting member and the washing means.

3. A washing machine comprising washing means, a movable supporting member adapted to support an article to be washed, hydraulic mechanism adapted to cause a relative movement between the said supporting member and the said washing means, the said hydraulic mechanism being provided with a supplypipe for leading water under pressure thereto, a bypass provided with a valve and connecting the supply pipe to the source of water under pressure, a movable valve controlling the normal supply of water to the supply pipe and connecting means between the said movable valve and the said supporting member and adapted to actuate the said movable valve during a portion of the movement of the said supporting member.

4. In a can washing machine having washing means, the combination of a movable supporting member adapted to support a can to be washed, the said supporting member having a control member connected thereto, hydraulic means adapted to actuate the said movable supporting member and adapted to communicate with the source of water under pressure through a pipe controlled by a movable valve, the said hydraulic means being adapted to be also connected to the said source of water under pressure through a by-pass provided with a second valve, and means for closing the first mentioned valve adapted to be operated by the said control member during a portion of the movement of the said supporting member.

5. In a can washing machine having washing means, the combination of a movable supporting member adapted to support a can to be washed, the said supporting member having a control disc, connected thereto, said movable supporting member having a piston fitting within a hydraulic cylinder, movable valve means connected to said cylinder and adapted to control the direction of movement of the said piston, the said movable valve being adapted to be actuated by the said movable supporting member at the limit of the upper and lower movement of the said supporting member with respect to said cylinder, the upper movement of the said valve being adapted to cause the down ward movement of the said movable supporting member and the downward movement of the said valve being adapted to cause the upward movement of the said the said cylfor supplying drain pipe for therefrom, a r

supporting member during a portion of the 10 upward and of the downward movement thereof, and means adapted to provide a supply of Water under pressure to the said supply pipe.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afhx my 15 signature.

IRA H; KENDALL. 

